The appellate review of court cases provides an opportunity for the judiciary to prepare opinions explaining how the law should be applied. These opinions serve as a precedent for the court and all subordinate courts within that jurisdiction. In Latin, this is called stare decisis or to leave the decision. South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe are bijural and combine the two legal systems. Countries that follow a civil justice system are usually those that were former French, Dutch, German, Spanish or Portuguese colonies or protectorates, including much of Central and South America. Most countries in Central and Eastern Europe and East Asia also follow a civil law structure. In civil law systems, on the other hand, codes and statutes are designed to cover all eventualities, and judges have a more limited role in applying the law to this case. Past judgments are nothing more than cowardly leaders. When it comes to court proceedings, judges in civil law systems are more like investigators, while their counterparts in common law systems are more likely to be arbitrators between parties making arguments. The civil law system is a codified legal system.
It has its origins in Roman law. Features of a civil law system include: This process is similar to that of the common law system. The difference lies in the effect of the interpretation of the law by the judiciary. Although the court`s decision may have an influence on future cases, its reasoning and interpretation of the law outside the particular case have little legal effect. Judicial interpretation is not a precedent that binds the court (or lower courts) in future proceedings. Unfortunately, the principle of predictability per se does not guarantee that a legal system is committed to fairness. For example, if the law only allows certain people to vote — say, landowners — it only gives landowners a guarantee of fairness in the electoral process. People who do not own property would have good reason to complain about social injustice in electoral matters, but only landlords could assert a right to fairness in court.
Therefore, even under the rule of law, a legal system can achieve an adequate level of justice in a given social or economic activity only if it also guarantees equal treatment of all members of society. To be sure, the American legal system had not always been able to guarantee equal treatment before the law – the original thirteen states, for example, granted the right to vote only to white male owners, and women could not vote in all states until 1920. Since 1868, however, U.S. courts have used the Fourteenth Amendment`s Equality Safeguard Clause to the Constitution to consider a number of potentially discriminatory and unjust actions taken by governments at all levels. However, in civil law countries, the judge is usually the lead investigator, and the lawyer`s role is to advise a client in court proceedings, write briefs and provide evidence favorable to the investigating judge. In many civil law countries, a separate administrative law regulates PPP agreements. It is important to seek local legal advice to verify whether these regulations apply to a particular civil system. It is also important to note that in a civil jurisdiction, unless the contract provides that the parties have agreed to arbitration, the contract will be enforced by administrative tribunals. Some of the key administrative rules applicable to delegated administrative arrangements are listed below. What do you think are some of the benefits of the civil justice system? What about the common law system? Are you trying to find out that some countries follow a common law system similar to that of the United States? Try to identify some countries that follow a civil justice system similar to Louisiana`s.
Summary of the differences between civil and common law legal systems This section examines the main features of each system and highlights areas of particular importance for PPP projects: For a complete list of common law and civil law countries, see Legal systems of the world on Wikipedia Here is an analysis of civil law systems versus common law systems: Forty-nine of the fifty U.S. states follow exclusively the common law system. Louisiana is the only U.S. state that recognizes both common law and civil law systems. A treaty that takes up a basic administrative principle and specifies exactly how it is to be applied will normally be effective. But the modification or deletion of an administrative principle may or may not be legally possible – this should be checked. For example, it may not be possible to completely eliminate the ability of a contracting authority to unilaterally change service standards. In France, the law prohibits any attempt to suspend the contracting authority`s ability to unilaterally terminate a contract.
Some civil codes also provide for mandatory notice periods in the event of breach of contract, which cannot be avoided or cancelled. Historians believe that the Romans developed civil law around 600 AD, when Emperor Justinian began compiling legal texts. Today`s civil law codes have evolved around the Justinian tradition of codifying laws as opposed to court judgments. Legal systems vary considerably from country to country, but they generally follow civil or common law. At common law, precedents or court decisions are used to decide these cases. According to civil law, codified laws and regulations govern the country. Some countries, such as South Africa, use a combination of civil and customary law. In the eighteenth century, when the legal and regulatory environment for everything was much simpler than it is today, the great Irish satirist Jonathan Swift compared laws to cobwebs because they seem to stretch in all directions to catch innocent flies while completely failing to stop wasps and other creatures responsible for far more serious crimes against human comfort. Like George McGovern, many people undoubtedly find this comparison at least as true today as they were in Swift`s time. After all, to be law-abiding innkeepers (or just citizens), we must negotiate an extensive network of constitutional, federal, regulatory, and state and local law; criminal, civil and common law; substantive and procedural law; public and private law; and commercial law, which includes contract law, product liability law, patent law, consumer protection law, environmental law, labor law, insurance law, cyber law, agency law and various other legal forms.
In fact, it is virtually impossible to be a truly law-abiding citizen. According to one estimate, the average U.S. driver earns ten tickets a day. Other punished violations range from cable TV theft and scalping of tickets to exhibitionism and illegal fishing and hunting. Siehe Timothy Sexton, «Millions of Americans Break the Law Several Times a Day Without Punishment,» Related Content, 9. September 2008, www.associatedcontent.com/article/979756/millions_of_americans_break_the_law.html (aufgerufen am 12. November 2011).